At a hearing in Los Angeles yesterday (March 28), U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald commented on the $110 million lawsuit Jerry Heller has filed against the filmmakers of Straight Outta Compton, the 2015 biopic on N.W.A, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“Mr. Heller is clearly a sophisticated and wealthy man,” Fitzgerald said. “He’s written this book. They’ve made this movie … in the ’80s, as an old white guy, I was aware of N.W.A. As the case goes forward, Mr. Heller is going to have some real trouble here.”
The judge is referring to Ruthless, Heller’s 2007 book in which he discusses, in part, his time at Ruthless Records with Eazy-E and N.W.A as the company and its artists rose to prominence. The topics discussed in the book overlap with those portrayed in the movie.
Given that Heller “is very much a public figure,” according to the Fitzgerald, it may make his defamations claims more difficult to prove, as he would have to show that the filmmakers knowingly and blatantly disregarded the truth in their portrayal of him.
(The original story in this thread was published October 30, 2015. It is as follows.)
Jerry Heller, who worked as an executive with Eazy-E at his Ruthless Records in the 1980s and 1990s and helped N.W.A rise to multi-platinum success, is suing the producers of the Straight Outta Compton film for $110 million, according to TMZ.
Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, the estate of Eazy-E and NBC Universal are among those named in the suit, which claims that Heller was damaged by the false way he was depicted in the film.
Portrayed as “a sleazy manager who took advantage of Eazy-E, Dr. Dre and Ice Cube,” the suit claims that Heller was not fired by Eazy-E and did not withhold a $75,000 check from Ice Cube, as was depicted in the film, which grossed more than $161 million at the domestic box office, according to Box Office Mojo.
Heller’s suit seeks $75 million in punitive damages, $35 million in compensatory funds and all the profits from the film, whose budget was approximately $28 million.
For additional Jerry Heller coverage, watch the following DX Daily:
People just pull these $$$ amounts out of their ass. suing for $110 million?? GTFOH
I knew this was going to happen he waited until all of the movie sells was tallied up
Bad move Jerry! You were an important part of RUTHLESS’ success, but they did not portray you as a ‘crook’ in the movie! All parties were a lil out ‘for themselves’ a bit – Priority, Eazy, Suge, Dre AND you……don’t think youre gonna ‘win’ & the ‘hatred’ from the Hip Hop community will grow! Sorry to see you go out like that…………………
Didnt portray him as a crook. They clearly show Cube leave cuz jerry was fuckin him over. And they how Eazy find out heller was stealing from him. So definitely portrayed as a “crook”
Thats what suge should have done.. now he fucked after catching that body
Jerry is crazy. They didn’t portray him bad at all. I actually thought they were gonna do him dirty but to my surprise, they didn’t do anything shady. He literally got portrayed as a record executive who was close enough to the group on a regular basis. All those scenes at Jerry’s house or whatever. They really humanized him if u ask me, the stories you heard about Jerry Heller before seeing this movie was worse than what we saw.
In the end he will settle with NBC for approx 750k and never disclose the terms of the settlement.
Based on my past convo’s with MC Ren and Ice Cube, they had alot to say about Jerry Heller which was true and would have made him look bad. I thought in the movie they actually portrayed him in a good light and 6th member of NWA. They gave him credit for taking the group where it went and jumpstarting ruthless and careers of NWA. This is all a get back to get pay pack.
Christ didn’t exist and most of you and your people are Devils and a cancer to this planet STFU
So he thinks they made him look like a money hungry devil? Way to prove them wrong lol.
^ Perfectly put!
and … $110 mil?? Love to know the basis for that figure! LOL!
“coz ya getting fucked outcha green by a white boy
with no Vaseline”
Damnnn
Kinda racist… no… Just racist.
I fuckin hate industry nowadays. Everybody sues for shitty reasons! Fuck that
i dont blame him. shitty ass movie anyway. they didnt portray eazy even close to right. dre and cube just wanted it to be about them. not surprised. they been sell outs for years.
Seriously easy was the sellout
How was the film shit? It portrayed Eazy correctly for the most part, it wasn’t just about Cube and Dre. There are some inaccuracies, but that’s to be expected out of every biopic.
120% cosign jase
this film is a disgrace to Eazy, Bone Thugs, Arabian Prince and RBX, meanwhile it makes Dre and Cube look like supercool gods
typical greedy fuckin k.yke.
yea NOT kinda racist just racist. Way to go try to make someone look bad and make yourself look worse…
Yeah. Fight racism with racism. Way to go Black King! You’re no better than that white dickhead, dickhead.
fuck that devil! he don’t deserve nothing. he’s just greedy white devil. die motherfucker die! we don’ give you no money. it’s simple like that. pimpin’ hip hop since day one that’s what he’s best known for. you can’t trust them devils.
I like this dude, reminds me of HOV! Business men till they die.
First off Cube and Dre are. poser actors, they lived at their mommy’s house and they programmed musical ignorance for profit. Public Enemy was by far the greater group to come from the 80s until WUTANG. Second, if a dude fronts the cash he invested in a stock, if that stock triples in profit it is the stakeholder who decides the bonuses. Jerry and Eazy were Ruthless. Like it or not they were the real gangsters.
Well legally u can use anyone name or likeness without permission….There lawyers should have consulted with his attorneys first…that’s how the industry works…
AHHH TELL HIM 2 SUK IT UP BIG BOY HE ALREADY TOOK MORE THEN HIS FAIR SHARE FROM THAT PIZZA PIE. DAM REAL UNHUMAIN 2 WANT MORE HE TOOK THE MANS LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!
terrible headline
no money for this greedy k.i.k.e
If he win’s, Suge gonna sue for $200 mil, get $25 mil outta court settlement, post bail and shat kick Dr.Dre.
As a J.e w or Afric an descent whose grandparents were kicked out of the land they resided in for so long and as an artist, I am abs olutely disgu sted by some of these comm ents here.
Not only because Je wish and Bl ack people have shared a struggle with both being oppressed for our religion, color, etc. but also because we have shared in success and elevating each other (look at comedy, films, read the book
“We J.e ws and Bl.a cks: Memoir with Poems” and such).
i thought the film actually did heller justice tbh..obv money grab
Someone needs to put the last nail in this j ews coffin